A variety of reconfigurable surface devices, utilizing large numbers of actuated physical pixels to produce discretized three-dimensional contours, have been developed for different purposes in research and industry. The difficulty of integrating many actuators in close configuration has limited the DOF and resolution and performance of existing devices. Utilizing vacuum power and soft material ac...
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Artificial muscles based on dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) have been used to mimic the motion of the human jaw. However, DEAs show strong nonlinear behavior coupled with rate dependent viscoelastic phenomena. Under cyclic actuation, the viscoelastic creep coupled with hysteresis further makes control of these viscoelastic membranes difficult. In this paper, we develop a nonlinear dynamic mo...
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In this paper, we present a new control approach for high-precision tracking control of a soft dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) with inverse viscoelastic hysteresis compensation. To this end, we first investigate the viscoelastic response of the DEA and divide it into transition region and stable region. Then, the viscoelastic response is characterized by creep and hysteresis effects according ...
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Soft actuators play an indispensable role in producing motions of soft robots. Dielectric elastomer actuators coupled with a fluid/air mass have proved to undergo considerable voltage-induced deformation. To achieve large deformation, a dominant way is to trigger snap-through instability, but the induced instantaneous deformation is not continuously stable, resulting in a limited space for control...
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Soft sensors are becoming more popular in wearables as a means of tracking human body motions due to their high stretchability and easy wearability. However, previous research not only was limited to only certain body parts, but also showed problems in both calibration and processing of the sensor signals, which are caused by the high nonlinearity and hysteresis of the soft materials and also by t...
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Multi-Fingered haptics is imperative for truly immersive virtual reality experience, as many real-world tasks involve finger manipulation. One of the key lacking aspect for this is the absence of technologically and economically viable wearable haptic interfaces that can simultaneously track the finger/hand motions and display multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF) contact forces. In this paper, we propose...
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Soft robots are flexible and adaptable allowing them to conform to objects of different shapes and sizes. However, the flexibility of soft robots leads to challenges in designing and fabricating them to satisfy application-specific requirements. In this paper, we present a class of 3-D printable three-chambered actuator modules, along with analytical models to predict actuation behavior based on a...
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There is a significant trend in robotics of exploring passively compliant and low inertia systems that can safely make contact with the environment. This paper defines many of the problems associated with developing effective control of soft, pneumatically actuated, inflatable robots, and proposes an approach to solving a subset of these problems. We show that we can obtain a global measurement of...
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Technological progress in advanced materials and artificial intelligence has given an impetus to the development of humanoid robots that can mimic human appearance and interact with people effectively. Eyeball motions play a key role in facial expression of humanoid robots, and can greatly improve the relationship between the robots and the users. In this paper, we develop soft actuators which can...
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This paper reports the concept, design, and development of a pneumatic braided muscle actuator, able to produce bidirectional force and motion. Such a capability can simplify the design and enhance the capabilities of robotic/automation systems using pneumatic muscles as actuators. Finite-element modeling is utilized as a design tool in order to study the feasibility of the concept, where a single...
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Multimaterial soft robots, composing of integrated soft actuators and a relatively harder body, show great potential to exert higher payloads and support their own weights. This paper proposed a systemic framework to automatically design and fabricate this kind of robots. The multimaterial design problem is mathematically modeled under the framework of topology optimization in which the structure ...
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In this paper, a press-button-type piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) is presented. The proposed device is composed of a piezoelectric bender, four magnets, a button, and a reverted spring. The proposed structure is triggered by an impact driven by magnetic force, so this novel trigger mechanism enhances its optimal power output. Based on the piezoelectricity, beam theory, and the vibration theo...
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Hydraulic cylinders and motors are commonly used in actuator systems of mobile machines and industrial applications. Hydraulic actuators have the ability to offer large amounts of energy density. To analyze the dynamic behavior of a hydraulic actuator system, the hydraulic circuit is generally divided into volumes in which pressure is assumed to be equally distributed. The pressure within these vo...
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A microrobotic swarm has drawn extensive attention recently, due to its potential advantages in real-time tracking and targeted delivery in vivo. Herein, we use paramagnetic nanoparticles with a diameter of 500 $\mu \text{m}$ as building blocks to investigate the reversible pattern transformation of a swarm, i.e., swelling and shrinking, in biofluids by simulation and experiments. Three kinds of b...
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Series Elastic Actuation decouples actuator inertia from the interaction ports and is thus advantageous for force-controlled devices. Parallel or even passive compliance can fulfill a complementary role by compensating for gravitational or periodic inertial forces or by providing passive guidance. Here, these concepts are combined in an underactuated six degree of freedom (6-DoF) compliant manipul...
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In this study, a magnetic sensor consisting of two coils was used to measure and evaluate finger tapping (FT) movements for diagnosis support and assessment of motor function. The sensor enables estimation of the distance between the two coil-bearing fingertips according to the nonlinear relationships between voltage and distance. The finger movements measured are evaluated by computing 12 indices...
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Smart devices employing interconnected sensors for feedback and control are being rapidly adopted. Many useful applications for these devices are in markets that demand cost-conscious solutions. Traditional machine-learning-based control systems often rely on multiple measurements from many sensors to achieve performance targets. An alternative method is presented that leverages a time-series outp...
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A piezoelectric robot with four parallel legs operating in rowing mechanism was presented and tested. The driving feet of the legs moved in a triangular trajectory, and a pair of legs on the same axis operated like rowing to move the robot step-by-step through the static friction forces between the driving feet and platform. A kinematic model with respect to the motion of the piezoelectric legs wa...
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In optical systems, reflectors are commonly used for directing light beams to desired directions. In this paper, a dielectric elastomer (DE) based optical manipulator is developed for two degrees-of-freedom (2-DOF) manipulation. The DE manipulator consists of a diaphragm with four segments that are controlled in two pairs, thus generating 2-DOF tilting motions. Due to its soft and gear-less moving...
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Multicopters are becoming increasingly important both in civil and military fields. Currently, most multicopter propulsion systems are designed by experience and trial-and-error experiments, which are costly and ineffective. This paper proposes a simple and practical method to help designers find the optimal propulsion system according to the given design requirements. First, the modeling methods ...
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Aims & Scope

IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics encompasses all practical aspects of the theory and methods of mechatronics, the synergetic integration of mechanical engineering with electronic and intelligent computer control in the design and manufacture of industrial products and processes.